This invention relates generally to desktop stands for portable electronic calculators and the like and, more particularly, to a novel one-piece collapsible stand formed of a flexible plastic material which is lightweight, durable and inexpensive to manufacture.
In recent years there has been a tremendous rise in the availability and popularity of hand-held portable electronic calculators. The development of sophisticated integrated circuit technology has enabled these calculators to be made compactly and inexpensively. To a great extent, portable calculators are capable of performing most, if not all, of the functions available in standard desktop calculators.
One of the few remaining disadvantages of the portable calculator over desktop models is that it is incapable, by itself, of resting on a desktop with its keyboard surface at an optimal angled position for the user. An initial step in overcoming this problem has been the provision of a small desktop stand to hold the portable calculator in an inclined position. Such a stand is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. D238,916.
However, such calculator stands heretofore have been complexly designed of multiple interconnected pieces formed of a relatively heavy, brittle plastic. As a result, manufacture and marketing of these stands has necessitated relatively high material and labor costs and substantial shipping expenses. Further, they are easily susceptible to breakage if dropped and the individual pieces can become detached from one another and lost.
Consequently, those concerned with the design and use of desktop calculator stands are highly aware of the need for a simplified and reliable stand which is lightweight, durable, inexpensive to manufacture and can be compactly packaged for shipping and storage. The present invention clearly fulfills this need.